Wavelength monitoring with semiconductor laser amplifiers

A. Hurtado; Ana Gonzalez-Marcos; Jose Antonio Martin-Pereda

doi:10.1117/12.566701

9 June 2004 Wavelength monitoring with semiconductor laser amplifiers

A. Hurtado, Ana Gonzalez-Marcos, Jose Antonio Martin-Pereda

Proceedings Volume 5502, Second European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.566701
Event: Second European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors, 2004, Santander, Spain

Abstract

The semiconductor laser diodes that are typically used in applications of optical communications, when working as amplifiers, present under certain conditions optical bistability, which is characterized by abruptly switching between two different output states and an associated hysteresis cycle. This bistable behavior is strongly dependent on the frequency detuning between the frequency of the external* optical signal that is injected into the semiconductor laser amplifier and its own emission frequency. This means that small changes in the wavelength of an optical signal applied to a laser amplifier causes relevant changes in the characteristics of its transfer function in terms of the power requirements to achieve bistability and the width of the hysteresis. This strong dependence in the working characteristics of semiconductor laser amplifiers on frequency detuning suggest the use of this kind of devices in optical sensing applications for optical communications, such as the detection of shifts in the emission wavelength of a laser, or detect possible interference between adjacent channels in DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) optical communication networks.

Citation Download Citation

A. Hurtado, Ana Gonzalez-Marcos, and Jose Antonio Martin-Pereda "Wavelength monitoring with semiconductor laser amplifiers", Proc. SPIE 5502, Second European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors, (9 June 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.566701

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